http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...g-dead-76.html

He passed away peacefully in Cambridge after a long battle with motor neurone disease, his family has revealed.

His children visited his home today and in a statement Lucy, Robert and Tim said: 'We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today. He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.

'He once said, 'It would not be much of a universe if it wasn't home to the people you love.' We will miss him forever'.

Professor Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963 when he was 21 and he defied medical experts who said he would be dead within two years.